Just announced:

This one is now listed:
https://severinfilms.com/en-ca/colle...y-box-set-book

New boxed set from Severin:

I would like to watch that documentary but not sure if I would need to own it.

I had no idea Lee was in Beat Girl. The only reason I even know about that film is because it was one of John Barry's early scores.

BEAT GIRL is actually a really good ‘problem youth’ movie, and Barry’s score is fantastic. I actually bought a CD way back in the 90’s of various Barry themes – many of which I was already familiar with from owning those soundtracks – but the BEAT GIRL theme blew me away. It wasn’t until 2016-ish that I finally got my hands on the movie via the BFI Blu-ray from the UK and discovered it’s a pretty good movie, of its kind. And the opening sequence is memorable thanks to Barry’s theme (and hep cat Oliver Reed):


BFI’s disc has three short films not in Severin’s version, including and interesting 25-minute one called CROSS ROADS starring Christopher Lee. Kinda surprised they didn’t port that over, but considering how many of these sets they’ve been able to put together, it’s probably in one of them already!

Extremely excited to have this officially confirmed:



Two UHD presentations too; the Italian version has been presented in SD by Arrow and Kino Lorber, and the prospect of seeing it in UHD is a thrill!

Severin is calling this "the official North American disc premiere", the implication being (I guess) that the Film Masters BD was not official.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Film Masters wasn’t official. A lot of their stuff is public domain, or “thought to be”, and many of their recent Blu-rays (especially in the lower tiers) are just nice transfers of really good prints of films that are demonstrably in the public domain. CRIPPLED MASTERS was ubiquitous on iffy VHS and DVDs for decades. That said, I’ll only buy the Severin Edition when it inevitably hits $7.50 or so in their sales. I have no doubt it will look and sound superior (original Mandarin track!), based on the details below, as Severin now has the muscle thanks to their Bruce Clones endeavour to track down better materials for these films that have long suffered in the ‘public domain’. But as interesting, historically, as the film is, it’s definitely not worth whatever Black Friday pricing they’ll put on it. Still, kudos to them being able to access an internegative. My guess is they now have access to a lot of stuff like that that falls (far) outside the usual Shaw and Golden Harvest catalogs. The trick is finding ways to repackage a lot of it (a la boxed sets) so people will pony up for movies that are still pretty easy to see online or on disc – albeit in often ratty condition – with just a couple of mouse clicks.

Speaking of muscle, it appears the Film Masters version has disappeared from both their website and their YouTube channel. I do think their disc is worth keeping, as the Ballyhoo doc is decent, and the commentary isn’t too bad (although Djeng can improve on it).

As I was saying . . .

Another Black Friday release, and another dig into some martial arts obscurities, this time from Japan, but riffing on you-know-who :

I kinda like that cover. Looks like a solid release. I have a lot of Bava on DVD but not blu so this might be good to get. Hopefully it will be a good-looking presentation.

Another Black Friday release: Robert Fuest’s THE FINAL PROGRAMME. I never got around to getting Shout’s previous Blu-ray, and ended up importing the UK DVD a few months ago. It’s definitely an interesting sci-if film, especially that ending, but I wouldn’t have guessed there was much demand by now.

Another BF release:

Another BF reveal, THE GHOST (1963).

Other reveals:

And another announcement:


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Also, regarding RETRIBUTION, posted earlier. The movie is pretty good, and has looked decent on its many physical media releases, and this supposedly gorier version found this year (curious if it’s the same as the ‘Extended Dutch video version’ included on their existing Blu-ray, only better quality?) doesn’t really make me want to revisit a one-time view like this. Maybe a sale item down the road.

The preorders are up on their website. Bundles too. Vampyros Lesbos and She Killed in Ecstasy are $35 each or both for $63. A Bay of Blood is $60 but 5 discs.

Joe Dante visits the Severin Cellar. Class act, as always.

Just announced!



Includes:

The Hunters of the Golden Cobra
The Ark of the Sun God
Jungle Raiders

I will be going to Creep IE Con tomorrow. It’s one of the biggest West coast horror cons. Severin will have a booth there. Are there 1 or 2 titles recently released that are worth picking up?

Vampyros Lesbos, She Killed in Ecstasy.

Tbh, I have not ordered those yet but if I saw them I would nab them.

I am so mad at myself.

The other day I spilled coffee on my table and my Game of Clones Brucesplotation box set happened to be there. I took it out because I was planning to watch some of the content.

Anyway, the coffee landed on the set and I just quickly wiped it off with a paper towel, not realizing that the coffee actually went inside the set. I should have double checked.

Sadly I learned the damages today, the set is basically ruined. The inside cardboard case is basically warped and wet and the discs are stuck. The booklet also got wet and got stuck inside and it was hard to pull out and when I did get it out, some of the cover and sides tore off.

It's possible the discs are likely damaged too. I cannot just use a blow dryer to fix this. The set is fucked and shame because i spent $100 on it. So I went back to Amazon and it's about $20 more and I reluctantly ordered a new one.

There were actually two sets announced today :

Those Margheriti adventure films are very moderately fun – like 5 out of 10 fun perhaps? – but I don’t think I’m going out on a limb to speculate that no one has been begging for them in 4K. Like so many 80’s Italian knockoffs, they’re just ok, but 4K won’t change that. 88 Films did separate Blu-ray (region A + B) and 4K editions of ARK OF THE SUN GOD, but I don’t recall the other two getting decent Blu-ray treatments (might be misremembering). Once I got the import Blu for SUN GOD, I hunted around for the other two (even though they’re unrelated) to no avail. so it’s cool that they’re finally getting some attention, but no way can I justify the up charge.

For anyone wanting to sample them, they’re all on YouTube in excellent quality versions, in scope aspect ratio with English audio (which is correct considering the leading stars).

The Andy Milligan box is tempting in a future sale to complement their earlier collection of his other films. Nice that it’s Blu only, especially considering how cheap most of Milligan’s films were. A lot of his stuff can be a chore to get through.

One bit of advice for Severin’s convention table:

In their last four or five online sales they’ve discounted significant portions of their ‘single case’ editions (including many 2-disc editions, sets with bonus CD soundtracks, and sets with slips) down to $7.50 US. I’m pretty confident that it’s a regular thing now, and have stocked up heavily on their catalog in those sales (not to mention many other sales in previous years where the sale prices were still decent, but higher). At that price, I’m way more willing to take a chance on just about anything in their catalog despite how questionable the films often are, and it’s less painful of a loss (and possibly even a profit) if I sell them afterward or trade them in around here. I find a lot of Severin titles are worth seeing at least once, but I’ve only kept a small portion of them.

So basically, if their convention table has a bunch of stuff for $7.50, load up! If everything’s higher, maybe think twice? I don’t know if they discount box sets at conventions to similar pricing in their sales, but that might be an option to replace the CLONES OF BRUCE set and save a few bucks over Amazon (although I’m guessing Amazon’s already shipped it).

That said, looking at a few titles that I’ve kept here, I can second the recommendation of VAMPYROS LESBOS and SHE KILLED IN ECSTACY as those are probably two of the most bearable Jess Franco movies in my opinion (and he made a lot of crap from that era onward) and Severin went all in on the supplements with good context.

Others that I’ve kept: CEMETERY MAN, both STRIKE COMMANDO films, THE MAD BOMBER (a fast-paced crime thriller with some really good pyro work and a nutty performance by Chuck Connors), MUMMY AND THE CURSE OF THE JACKALS (shitty movie, but interesting stories behind it), BLACKENSTEIN (ditto), BLOODY PIT OF HORROR, DRIVE-IN MASSACRE, GRIZZLY, DAY OF THE ANIMALS, A SCREAM IN THE STREETS (mainly for the amusing ‘drag killer’ performance), THE STRANGE VICE OF MRS. WARDH and ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK (both very good giallos), THE ASTROLOGER, THE DEVIL’S RAIN, GWENDOLINE (a lavish comic-based adventure movie loaded with nudity), the FUTURE SHOCK and THAT’S SEXPLOITATION documentaries, both TRAILERS OF FURY compilations (which complement the CLONES set rather nicely), and THE CHANGELING.

Keep in mind, though, that all of those have been $7.50 in recent online sales. If you prefer to give the company some love at the convention because you’ve already made the trek, then I suppose you can’t do too badly with some of those above. Your mileage, etc.

Also, MVD visual has a Severin Flash Sale on until February 2 with some serious reductions, including several DVDs from $1.98 (!) and plenty of Blus in the $10 range. Might be worth cross-referencing while you’re at the convention table.

https://mvdshop.com/collections/severin-films

Looks like Bay Of Blood is going to need a replacement program. One of the cuts freezes in two spots on all players.

My pick ups at the Severin Booth yesterday in Creep IE Con.